Case Number 19170

JOHNNY BRAVO: SEASON ONE

The Charge

Man, I'm pretty!

Opening Statement

Johnny Bravo aired on the Cartoon network in 1997 as one of the first
original cartoons the network ever aired. Before then, Cartoon Network was known
for airing reruns of old classic cartoons like Looney Tunes and The
Flintstones, but with Johnny Bravo CN was actually attempting to
revive the old Hanna-Barbera style of animation with a more modern sensibility.
Johnny Bravo would later become famous as the show that launched the
careers of animation showrunners Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) and Butch
Hartman (The Fairly OddParents), but it's an entertaining and amusing
little show in its own right that may be one of the more underrated of its
time.

Facts of the Case

Johnny Bravo (Jeff Bennett, The Penguins of Madagascar) is an
Elvis-lovin', karate-knowin', sunglasses-wearin' beefcake who loves his momma
(Brenda Vaccaro, Midnight Cowboy) and hits on every pretty lady he meets,
even when they mace him, taser him, or try to run him over with a steamroller.
The only female who shows any interest in him is his five-year-old neighbor
Little Suzy (Mae Whitman, Parenthood), who thinks he's a fun playmate.
While trying desperately and unsuccessfully to talk up women with his impossibly
lame pickup lines and doltish self-regard, he unwittingly ends up getting
involved in outlandish adventures that include secret agents, talking animals,
and C-list celebrities like Adam West, Donnie Osmond, and the cast of Scooby
Doo. This two-disc set compiles all thirteen episodes that make up the first
season.

The Evidence

Dismissed when it first aired as mediocre and forgettable, Johnny
Bravo has actually aged much better than it would have seemed at the time.
Because it lacks the intellectual and emotional depth of The Simpsons,
the aggressive fearlessness of South Park, or the subversive satire of
Beavis and Butt-Head, it may be easy to label Johnny Bravo as
one-dimensional and silly. Yes, in many ways, it is. It's also true that while
it may not be as groundbreaking as those shows were, it fits in with many
current animation shows much better now than it did then.

The obvious comparisons, of course, are to Family Guy. The
non-sequiturs, the use of faded celebrities as punchlines, the characters that
are mostly just jokes rather than fully fleshed out people -- these are all in
evidence. That may have irritated some viewers at the time, but now, with shows
like Drawn Together and some of the shows on Adult Swim, that style of
humor has become essentially the norm for animated series aimed at adults.
Johnny Bravo also took some flak for its animation style, which is
colorful but simplistic. It's clearly patterned after the mid-'60s style used by
Hanna-Barbera (the imprint the show was released under). The show's creator, Van
Partible, avoided extensive in-betweening to use quick flashes and blurs instead
every time Johnny moved. Some saw that as contrived, but actually, the animation
style fits the show perfectly. Simultaneously retro and flashy, it only adds to
the sheer pleasure of watching the show.

Mostly, though, it's easy to see now that Johnny Bravo is hilarious.
It's not nearly as revolutionary as some of its peers, but if you're looking for
good honest laughs, Johnny Bravo delivers. The humor isn't crude or
risqué; though Johnny spends virtually every episode hitting on women, it's
obvious he has no idea what he would do with one once he gets one. It's also
entertaining to see Johnny's misguided attempts to use his considerable brawn to
solve every single problem in front of him, even just earning enough pocket
change to buy his Momma a present. The voice acting is always great. Bennett's
performance is always amusing but even the supporting actors, including Whitman,
who really was five when she recorded her dialogue, are funny and lively. The
real highlights of the series, however, are the more elaborate animation
parodies that are so well-done that they rank with the best of any other show.
MacFarlane's "The Sensitive Male," for instance, is a flawless spoof
of Schoolhouse Rock! in which Jack Sheldon, the original voice of
Schoolhouse Rock, sings various songs to Johnny about how to pick up
women by pretending to be sensitive. "Bravo Dooby Doo" has Johnny
meeting the cast of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and not only uses almost
all of the original voice cast from the series but even many of the original
animation drawings as well. These parody episodes are the show's best but that's
not to shortchange the others, which are all at least entertaining. Johnny Bravo
is such an endearing and charming character that even despite his many personal
shortcomings, he's fun to watch in any circumstances.

For this package, Cartoon Network has put together a good set of extras.
Three episodes come with commentary from Van Partible and various cast and crew
members discussing how the shows were written and animated. These are excellent,
full of details and stories. There's also a featurette, "Bringing Up
Johnny Bravo" (12:29), containing interviews with various creative
personnel behind the show, that is worth seeing. Though MacFarlane himself
doesn't appear on any commentaries or extras, he did provide his original demos
for his Schoolhouse Rock parody episode, which contain some minor
variations from the finished version. Finally, the set is rounded out with some
"Pencil Tests" (15:01) that were used as rough animation guides for
directors to make changes. As for the technical specs, they're solid. The
full-screen transfer and Dolby stereo mix are both cleaned up considerably,
showing off the series to full advantage.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

The only misstep is the character of Jungle Boy, a Tarzan-esque cute little
kid who lives in the jungle, wears a loincloth, and is beloved by all of the
jungle animals even though he doesn't really do anything. This one-note
character is apparently some sort of parody of media manipulation, but he's not
that funny and his occasional appearances in a handful of cartoons are low
points. He's easy to ignore, since he's barely a minor character, but this is
the one part of Johnny Bravo that doesn't really work.

Closing Statement

Fans of Family Guy and Adult Swim should have no problem picking up
this set. Johnny Bravo helped pave the way for those projects, but it's
also a genuinely amusing and enjoyable show in its own right. Don't expect
jaw-dropping greatness, but it does hit the mark more often than not. Viewers
interested in more adult-themed animation should find Johnny Bravo worth
a look.